General Mills partners with American Refugee Committee

Aug. 4, 2011
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by World Grain Staff

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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S. — The General Mills Foundation on Aug. 3 announced up to $100,000 in support to the American Refugee Committee (ARC) to speed famine relief efforts to the millions of Somalis on the brink of starvation. An initial $50,000 donation has been made to ARC, a humanitarian organization based in the Twin Cities that has a team in Somalia distributing food in the nation’s capital of Mogadishu. To encourage further corporate giving, the General Mills Foundation has offered to match contributions from other Twin Cities companies, up to $50,000, that support ARC’s relief work in Somalia.

“As a food company in the metro area with the largest Somali population, General Mills is uniquely positioned to do one of the things we do best, which is provide hunger relief to children and their families,” said Ellen Goldberg Luger, vice-president and General Mills Foundation executive director. “As the famine in Somalia reaches historic proportions, we encourage other Minnesota companies to support the critical relief work being done by the American Refugee Committee to address this devastating crisis.”

ARC is working closely with the Somali Drought Relief Commission, the American Relief Agency for the Horn for Africa (ARAHA), and other local organizations in Mogadishu to provide aid to hungry Somalis housed in camps in their nation’s capital.

"Our teams on the ground in Somalia describe the unimaginable: stories of parents making agonizing decisions to save their children... stories of people walking for 30 days to find food. Conditions are dire,” said Daniel Wordsworth, president of the American Refugee Committee. “We’re pleased that General Mills stepped forward with an incredibly generous leadership donation to leverage the support of our whole community. These contributions will save lives.”

ARC is also working closely with the local Twin Cities Somali community, as it has for the past two years, and recently launched the Neighbors for Nations program, which supports Somalis in Somalia and in the Twin Cities metro area.